PRIME MINISTER KOIZUMI:
I have the pleasure of meeting with Prime Minister Howard many times and had various talks but I should like to welcome Prime Minister Howard most warmly after the successful conclusion of the Japan-Australia summit talks. And I also like to thank the Australian participation in Expo 2005 Aichi, Japan.
Japan and Australia enjoy a very good relationship and during my talk today we reaffirmed our joint agreement to further elevate this relationship to higher level. And concerning the sending of Australian troops to Iraq under a very tough, difficult situation, Prime Minister Howard took a courageous decision to send additional troops and I express my respect and we highly appreciate that decision. And for the reconstruction of Iraq, Australia and Japan will continue to cooperate and work closely together.
And Prime Minister Howard made reference to the UN reform and expressed clearly his support to Japanese permanent membership on the UN Security Council. We're very grateful. In the international arena there are many areas Australia and Japan can work together, such as in the area of the fight against terrorism and the enhanced security. And next year will be the Japan-Australia Year of Exchange, taking this opportunity we like to make every possible effort to further enhance our relationship.
Concerning FTA, the situation Japan is placed in is something Prime Minister Howard knows very well. In the economic area Australia and Japan enjoy a very good relationship of mutual complementation. So under such background we will be, as I said, elevating our bilateral relationship further to a higher plane and so we will be looking into the advantages and disadvantages in concluding the FTA between the two countries. We agreed to look into this and study this and continue to discuss that. And also, we agreed to start formal negotiation to conclude Japan-Australia Social Security Agreement.
Japan and Australia share such values as freedom, democracy and market economy, especially the people of Japan enjoy visiting Australia in growing numbers and more and more Australian people are coming to Japan.
And so moving forward, in various areas we should be able to expand our exchange between the two countries and it is such a timely occasion that Prime Minister Howard comes to Japan and this will give us a further great opportunity to expand our
relationship between the two countries.
Thank you. May I call upon Prime Minister Howard?
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
Ladies and gentlemen, it's been a great pleasure to come to Japan again as Prime Minister and again to see the Prime Minister, Junichiro Koizumi, who I have now met on quite a number of occasions and whose leadership of this close friend and partner of Australia's is something I admire. I thank him for the remarks he made about our troop deployment to the Al Muthanna province in Iraq. I informed the Prime Minister that on the way to China and Japan I went through Darwin and was able to meet almost all of the 450-person contingent that is going to Iraq, to send them my good wishes, to hear their views about the adequacy of their training and their equipment, which was all, I hasten to say, very positive, and to express my very strong support for the value of this mission, particularly as it involves a close working partnership with our friends and partners, the Japanese.
Our talks today have been very good indeed, we both attach enormous importance to this long-standing, close economic relationship. It is not only economic, it is also strategic - we've had a trilateral security dialogue involving Australia, Japan and the United States and that is something we value. Both Australia and Japan have a common interest in a peaceful resolution of matters involving North Korea which continues to be of concern to both countries.
I'm also delighted to remind this gathering that Japan remains Australia's best customer and has been such now for many, many years. And there is no reason why that should not continue into the future. I welcome the fact that both countries through our talks today have agreed to further elevate or enhance the economic relationship, including the study of the feasibility of a Free Trade Agreement. I understand, as does the Prime Minister of Japan, that the next step after that, concluding it, if the feasibility study turned out to the positive, would be very difficult. But that is running ahead of ourselves, what we are doing today is agreeing to the study of the feasibility - the advantages, the disadvantages, and pros and cons of a Free Trade Agreement between our two countries.
Finally, can I say that the friendship between our two nations is built very heavily on the people to people links, as well as our economic associations. And I will have an opportunity tomorrow in Aichi, the Australian national day at the Expo, which my Government has very strongly supported, to say something more about the personal, as well the economic, associations between our two countries. 2006 is designated as the Year of Exchange between Australia and Japan. I have invited the Prime Minister to visit Australia again next year as part of that very important exchange and he will be welcomed as the leader of a country that is very important to Australia, very important indeed, and a country that has contributed so much to the economic strength that our country has enjoyed over the last 30 to 40 years.
JOURNALIST:
To both Prime Minister Koizumi and Prime Minister Howard, my question has to do with the situation in Iraq. Australian troops will be in charge of maintenance of the security in the Samawah region, what are your views about the state of security in the region? And also in Iraq there will be a series of important processes, such as establishment of constitution and the general election, what are your views about the outlook, including the possibility of increased terrorist activities?
PRIME MINISTER KOIZUMI:
Now concerning the state of security of Samawah in Iraq, I think compared to other areas, the area is relatively stable and the Japanese self defence forces personnel located there and so far maintain good relationship with the residents and the people living in Samawah doing the humanitarian support and contribution. After the withdrawal of Dutch troops, the Australian troops will be sent there, maintaining a close relationship with Japan and also we have a good relationship with the British troops. So Australia, British and the Japanese personnel, in cooperation with the multinational forces, we can work together for the reconstruction and the improvement of the state of welfare of the people in Samawah area.
And it is a very important time for Iraq after the National Assembly election and the Iraqi people themselves are making efforts to construct a stable, democratic nation. So we are there as a duty of the international community to support the Iraqi people's own efforts to build a democratic society. As a member of the international community, Japan wishes to contribute. So we hope the constitution can be established with the general election so that it will lead to the democratic stable nation for Iraqi people as a whole. We will be joining hands with Australia, other countries in the world and with our entire international community to work towards that goal. Thank you.
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
Well I very broadly agree with everything that the Prime Minister has said. This particular province has not had the security difficulties of other parts of Iraq, but any part of Iraq has a certain degree of danger and we are under no illusions regarding that. The important point to make is that Iraq has made enormous strides towards securing a democratic future. For many, a turning point in the assessment of Iraq was the success of the election on the 30th of January when eight and a half million Iraqis defied the most appalling intimidation in order to participate in a free election. That deserves to be supported and consolidated and together Australia and Japan will be doing that. I agree very much with the Prime Minister that making friends with the local people, winning their hearts and minds, as well as carrying out the allotted military tasks is very important. I know that's a priority of the Japanese forces, and it is very definitely a priority of the Australian forces and I believe that our two groups will work together very closely and of course in cooperation with the British forces with whom the overall security of the province will be shared.
The other task, of course, that the Australians have is to train the local Iraqi forces because in the long run a democratic Iraq can only be achieved if Iraq generates her own defence and internal security forces and we have a vital role to play in bringing that about.
JOURNALIST:
Lenore Taylor from the Australian Financial Review newspaper. My question is for Prime Minister Koizumi. Does Japan's agreement to this feasibility study mean that Japan could consider a Free Trade Agreement with Australia which includes agriculture?
PRIME MINISTER KOIZUMI:
Well this issue is something I discussed at length with Prime Minister Howard. Concerning the agricultural issues, Prime Minister Howard knows very well that there are some tough, difficult challenges. And this feasibility study may not be directly connected to FTA immediately, but we will be taking two years or so and looking to various aspects, advantages and disadvantages, pros and cons, so that our economic ties will be elevated to a further higher level. This is, in a way, a study to explore the various aspects. So through two year discussions and exchanges of views we will be discussing further what we can do next. Thank you.
JOURNALIST:
A question directed to Prime Minister Howard. Now you visited China and Japan this time and the relationship between China and Japan at present are rather difficult and tough and the Chinese side have some views that Japan does not reflect on its past. As a country which fought against Japan during World War II, what are your views on these points made by the Chinese side?
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
Well I'm not going to give this answer by reference to what China has said. Let me answer you directly on what I think about these matters. All countries must understand their history and their past and be candid about them. And that applies to all of us. Let me say in relation to Australia and Japan, yes we were enemies 60 years ago and particularly amongst older Australians there remains lingering resentment and bitterness and feeling - that is understandable. But one of the remarkable things about the relationship between Australia and Japan is that in 1957 we signed a landmark Commerce Agreement which was initiated by a government in Australia that included many men, I think at that time they were virtually all men, who had fought in the Australian Army in World War II, including in the Pacific theatre, including some who had been prisoners of war. And the point is that by agreeing to sign that landmark agreement, which actually laid the foundation of the modern strength of the relationship between Australia and Japan, those men were looking to the future. They were not reflecting on the past, they didn't forget the past, nobody can forget the past, but they were looking to the future. And that is my view and that is the way that Australia has always approached it. How other countries approach those things are a matter for them to articulate, I'm not going to express a view about what China has done, let me simply say that we value very deeply our relationship with Japan, we don't pretend that there haven't been tragedies in the past and I know that is the view of the Prime Minister. But we look to the future and if that generation of Australians who fought in the war could be part of a government that looked to the future then there's a message in that for current generations of Australians.
JOURNALIST:
Greg Turnbull from the Ten Network in Australia. My question is to Prime Minister Koizumi and perhaps Mr Howard might also comment. It's on the issue of an exit strategy from Iraq. Prime Minister Koizumi, how long do you expect your military engineers to remain in Iraq and if their term is extended, do you hope and expect that the Australian troops there protecting them should remain while ever the engineers remain in Iraq?
PRIME MINISTER KOIZUMI:
The self defence forces will stay and act there until December next year and the timing of the exit, we will continue to follow the situation there very closely and the situation in the international community and also the process of Iraqi people building the democratic government and the country there and also the views and judgment of Iraqi Government. And taking all that into account, when we withdrawal we would like to do so in a smooth and amicable way. And also, for the safety and security of self defence forces, primarily self defence forces take measures to establish their own safety and security. But we uphold the solid policy of not carrying out any armed activities in foreign countries. So that's the policy we will continue to uphold. And also in the province of Muthanna, not only the British forces but now the Australian forces are sent and cooperate to ensure the safety of Japanese self defence forces and we are very grateful and we will take the upmost caution to ensure the safety and security of our personnel so that our self defence forces can contribute in the humanitarian important support there.
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
I'd just simply add that the Australian deployment is for an initial period of 12 months. I am not going to commit myself to precisely when after that the commitment might terminate, obviously it is related to the Japanese presence but obviously also we will take into account other considerations as well. There will be two rotations within that 12-month deployment, so each group goes for six months. We hope that the security situation in the whole of the country continues to consolidate and as I said earlier I look forward to working, our troops looking forward to working with our Japanese friends. And can I finally say that the decision by my friend, the Prime Minister of Japan, to commit his country's forces to Iraq was a very difficult decision for him to take, it was in the face of some intense domestic opposition and as a result he has my very great admiration for having done that.
PRIME MINISTER KOIZUMI:
Thank you. And the extension was from December last year so not until December next year but December this year. So the timing is until December this year, just a correction, December this year.
[ends]